Indian M&A market showed moderate levels of deal activity in the first nine months of this year with 377 deals amounting to USD 23.9 billion.

According to a survey by tax advisory firm Grant Thornton, with just 377 transactions, the deal activity during the period was significantly lower than the previous years.

Correspondingly, in the January-September period of 2012, corporate India had announced 438 deals, while in 2011 it was as high as 461.

In terms of deal value as well, there has been a significant decline in the last two years. In 2012, it was USD 28.16 billion and in 2011, USD 37.31 billion.

"While outbound deal activity has remained steady, there has been gradual decline in inbound deal activity given some of the macro-economic factors impacting global and India as well as drag-effect of the Tax and Regulatory uncertainties prevailing last year," Grant Thornton India Partner, Transaction Advisory Services, Raja Lahiri said.

There is a "renewed" interest in the deal street and this optimism is likely to continue in the coming months, he added.

"We are slowly witnessing renewed inbound interest and we expect this upward trend to continue going forward. The Diageo -United Spirits deal as well as Unilever's increasing stake acquisition in HLL augurs well for inbound deals," he said.

The report further said that excluding internal mergers and restructuring deals, in the first nine months of this year deal value increased by 45 per cent over the corresponding period last year due to some large cross-border deals.

ONGC Videsh Ltd's 10 per cent stake acquisition of Rovuma Area 1 Offshore Block for USD 2.64 billion, was the biggest deal of the July-September quarter.

Some of the other major deals during the quarter include Jaypee Cement's deal with Aditya Birla Group firm UltraTech to sell 51 per cent stake in the 5 mtpa Gujarat facility for USD 590 million, and Cipla's completion of the buyout process of South African pharma firm Cipla Medpro for USD 512 million.